Convoy CEO Dan Lewis wrote in a memo to employees that “we hoped this day would never come,” GeekWire reports.
“We spent more than four months exhausting all viable strategic options for the company. However, none of the options ultimately delivered anything sufficient to keep the company running in its current form,” he told employees late on Thursday.
Lewis sent shockwaves through the global technology ecosystem, saying the company was facing both an “unprecedented freight market collapse” and “dramatic monetary tightening.”
“This combination ultimately crushed our progress while also crushing our logical strategic buyer – it was the perfect storm,” he wrote in the memo.
Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos-backed Convoy had about 500 employees before the announcement to end its core business.
According to the report, the company raised $260 million at a valuation of $3.8 billion nearly 18 months ago.
Lewis said Convoy will close its current core operations.
“Part of our team will continue to handle this settlement transition and possible future strategic options (with whom have already been spoken). Today is your last day with the company,” he told employees.
He said they are in the midst of a massive freight recession and a contraction in capital markets.
“Convoy’s technology-led approach to freight transport created real benefits. It also created the conditions for a truly scalable technology platform and business model that would have delivered real financial returns as market conditions improved. But in the end, market forces were too strong to resist. can withstand on our own,” said the CEO.
“M&A activity has shrunk significantly and most of Convoy’s logical strategic buyers are also suffering from the collapse of the freight market, making the deal much more difficult,” said Lewis, who previously led new shopping experiences at Amazon.
The announcement came just a week after supply chain software startup Flexport said it would lay off about 20 percent of its workforce.
“We spent more than four months exhausting all viable strategic options for the company. However, none of the options ultimately delivered anything sufficient to keep the company running in its current form,” he told employees late on Thursday.
Lewis sent shockwaves through the global technology ecosystem, saying the company was facing both an “unprecedented freight market collapse” and “dramatic monetary tightening.”
“This combination ultimately crushed our progress while also crushing our logical strategic buyer – it was the perfect storm,” he wrote in the memo.
Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos-backed Convoy had about 500 employees before the announcement to end its core business.
According to the report, the company raised $260 million at a valuation of $3.8 billion nearly 18 months ago.
Lewis said Convoy will close its current core operations.
“Part of our team will continue to handle this settlement transition and possible future strategic options (with whom have already been spoken). Today is your last day with the company,” he told employees.
He said they are in the midst of a massive freight recession and a contraction in capital markets.
“Convoy’s technology-led approach to freight transport created real benefits. It also created the conditions for a truly scalable technology platform and business model that would have delivered real financial returns as market conditions improved. But in the end, market forces were too strong to resist. can withstand on our own,” said the CEO.
“M&A activity has shrunk significantly and most of Convoy’s logical strategic buyers are also suffering from the collapse of the freight market, making the deal much more difficult,” said Lewis, who previously led new shopping experiences at Amazon.
The announcement came just a week after supply chain software startup Flexport said it would lay off about 20 percent of its workforce.
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